Runner's Companion.pdf - Free

Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9alternative character concepts . . . . . . . . . . .Estimated Population (Worldwide): >5,000 (anima)Population Centers: Manchuria, Amazonia, Yakut.Common Languages: All languagesInternational Status: Currently only a handful of nationsincluding Amazonia, Yakut, Manchuria, Czech Republic, Pueblo,and Bolivia allow citizenship to free spirits. Several megacorporationshave also set the precedent for corporate citizenship (namelyEvo and Wuxing corporations). Of course, different jurisdictionshave different policies toward free spirits with no consensus amongworld governments.Prominent Free SpiritsSarahSarah is the principal of the Pueblo SupremeCourt case. She has adopted the form of an attractiveAmerind woman always attired in traditional tribaldress. The court will consider her petition to marrya metahuman and take legal custody over Rebecca,whom she calls her “daughter,” and who is also a freespirit. Though Pueblo recognizes sapient rights andcitizenship to free spirits, the complex ramificationsof a legal union between a metahuman and a nonmetahumanis generating a lot of media coverage.Baker 620Baker 620 is Knight Errant’s designation fora “homeless” and apparently crazed spirit that issomething of a local celebrity and is even an attractionof a VR drone tour of Boston. It is said that he isactually a spontaneous great-form spirit, the formerally of a magician killed in the Winternight strike onthe city in ‘64, or a shadowrunner.Baker 620 is well liked and has numerous friendsamong Boston’s squatter community. He has beenknown to step in to protect his friends on occasion.GAME INFORMATIONThe following section introduces rules opening a variety ofnew options to for Shadowrun characters types. Before implementingany of these options in their games, groups should consider theimpact and ramifications they might have on the style of play, toneof a campaign, and power level of the game. Some of the implicationsare obvious, others less so. Carefully consider and discuss thefollowing material before introducing it into play.Gamemasters are cautioned not to allow certain options intoplay if they are not comfortable with how they will change thegame. Collectively or in part, some of the character types may verywell unbalance the game if the gamemaster is unprepared to dealwith the unique abilities and peculiarities of the new characteroptions introduced in these rules.All the rules that follow should be viewed as optional, and assuch are subject to individual gamemaster approval before beingintroduced into a game.CREATING AMETAVARIANT CHARACTERDespite six decades of study, mankind is still far from masteringthe secrets of the metahuman genome. Metahumanity’sunderstanding of the mechanisms behind the genetic expressionof metatraits, the astral shadows of metagenes, and the differencesbetween metatypes is incomplete to say the least. An overviewand summary of all these topics can be found in Genetics 101, pp.74–79, Augmentation.A metavariant is ultimately a genetic subspecies of one of thebasic metatypes (i.e. human, dwarf, ork, troll, and elf ) not unlikehuman ethnic races (i.e. Caucasian, Asian, African, etc). Whereasthe latter derive from the mundane genome, the former are expressedby traits encoded in the metagenome.Metavariants conform to accepted theories of evolution andhave adapted to the environment of their geographical habitat.They do share an underlying similarity with the baseline metatypefrom which they stem.In game terms, this means that all metavariants belongto a certain common metatype (human, troll, ork, dwarf, elf ).Additionally, all share their base metatype’s minimum and maximumattribute ratings (see Metatype Attribute Table, p. 73, SR4).METATYPE ATTRIBUTE TABLEBP Metatype BOD AGI REA STR CHA INT LOG WIL INI0 Human 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 2/12 (18)Human Metatype Abilities: +1 Edge20 Ork 4/9 (13) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 3/8 (12) 1/5 (7) 1/6 (9) 1/5 (7) 1/6 (9) 2/12 (18)Ork Metatype Abilities: Low-Light Vision25 Dwarf 2/7 (10) 1/6 (9) 1/5 (7) 3/8 (12) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 2/7 (10) 2/11 (16)Dwarf Metatype Abilities: Thermographic Vision, +2 dice for Body Tests to resist pathogens and toxins30 Elf 1/6 (9) 2/7 (10) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 3/8 (12) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 1/6 (9) 2/12 (18)Elf Metatype Abilities: Low-Light Vision40 Troll 5/10 (15) 1/5 (7) 1/6 (9) 5/10 (15) 1/4 (6) 1/5 (7) 1/5 (7) 1/6 (9) 2/11 (16)Troll Metatype Abilities: Thermographic Vision, +1 Reach, +1 natural armor (cumulative with worn armor)70Runner’s Companion